Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy mistakenly blocked the start of same-sex marriage in Nevada in an order that spawned confusion among state officials and disappointment in couples hoping to be wed.

A debate over whether children would be harmed or helped by legalizing gay marriage was the main focus when a federal appeals court in San Francisco waded again into the issue of the constitutionality of gay marriage.

Judges have been striking down gay marriage bans at a rapid rate since a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year invalidated the core of a federal law that defined marriage as only between a man and a woman for determining federal benefits.